Generally in a procedure for obtaining a color image in a photosensitive material subsequent to imagewise exposure, the color developing step is followed by elimination of metal silver, which has been formed, and then by washing for stabilization or other stabilizing treatment replacing the washing.
For the development of photosensitive materials, it is the present-day practice to process them in an automatic developing machine in a running processing system at a processing laboratory, and for the betterment of service to customers, under demand to process an order from the acceptance from the customer to the return to him within one and the same day. This speediness required for the developing process, with processing of orders within a few hours from the acceptance to the return even in demand nowadays, has made it exigencies of the time to develop an efficient rapid processing technique.
The technique has already reached the following level with respect to the processing procedure, time and temperature of a major photosensitive color paper, i.e., for example, the development of a color printing paper to be finished in 8.5 minutes and at a treating temperature of 33.degree. C. through three steps consisting of color developing (3.5 min.), bleach-fixing (1.5 min.), and washing with water (3.5 min.); this technique as an integrated system is disclosed, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,322 and West German OLS Patent No. 2,160,872.
Recently, Eastman Kodak has disclosed a rapid processing method for color paper named "Process RA-4" to finish the processing in 3 minutes (treating temperature: 35.degree. C.) comprising three steps of color developing (45 sec.), bleaching-fixing (45 sec.), and stabilizing (90 sec.).
With such reduction of the processing time, however, the process is attended with deterioration of the white ground property of the unexposed portion in a color paper, which makes it difficult to practice a rapid processing. As a means for overcoming this problem, as referred to in the specification of Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as "Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication") No. 151538/1986, it has been proposed to use a specific dye in a photosensitive material and to treat the material with a stabilizing bath which contains a hardening agent. An investigation relating to this proposition, however, has revealed that the effect expected of the stabilizing bath is unsatisfactory when the treating time is so shortened as to be less than 30 seconds, and furthermore that a surface-active agent which dissolves from the photosensitive material into the stabilizing bath causes the bath to foam so vigorously as not to permit ignoring. Moreover, a photosensitive material placed in such condition is found to be liable to a fault of blueing at the light-exposed area.